Mynah Birds.

ibbo · Guru

Mynah Birds.

dave06 · Guru

nagged by a mynah thats illegal in some states isnt it, anyway that reminded me of my aunties magpie,

when she was living just outside of waikerie on a fruit block they hand raised this damn magpie, it thought it was human and would join in on every conversation

but what still brings a smile to my face is that it used to run up and down the fence barking like a dog, my auntie was mad keen on corgis had three of them, the magpie used to ride on their backs as well, barking at all and sundry, great things those birds

ibbo · Guru

Hi Dave.I read about a c o c k y who had a tame crow that would imitate all kinds of things.Apparently the C..ky had a visitor who yakked on a fair bit,the crow perched behind him and made anoise like a .303 going off.Frightened the tripe out of the talkative one.He left.Cheers Ibbo.

dave06 · Guru

I was watching the antics of the lyre bird on a show by david attenborough, that thing imitated chainsaws and trucks and whips as well as other birds,

Cupie · Guru

G'day ..

In relation to Myna & Miner birds .... Thanks to my well used 1997 version of 'Field Guide to Birds of Australia' etc cop this lot (just joking) .....

The 'Common Myna/Asian/Indian Myna' is an introduced pest species .. as Dave suggested is 'illegal' in some States. Maybe all. It is a prized cage bird in some overseas countries but because of its exteme threat to native species & other issues is declared here. My neighbours & I do our bit to eradicate them.
They are coco brown, 24cm, darker head with yellow eyepatch, legs & beak. White flashes on wings when flying. Territorial & aggressive to other birds. They have a distinctive hopping action.

The other bird refered to is possibly the aussie 'Noisy Miner'. Its crown, most of face & ears are black. Rest of head grey. Bare yellow skin behind eye. Bill yellow. Back & rump grey. Underparts pale grey with darker scallops on breast. Aggressive to other birds.

Apologies if this is 'off thread' but I've got a thing about the Indian Myna.

cheers .. Graham yawn

dave06 · Guru

the part i dont like about any of the myna's is that they drive the smaller species (I.E. honeyeaters, pardelopes, blue wrens) out, I do all I can to discourage them but the little buggers still keep coming back, you probably guessed by now that I am an avid "greenie" but not to the extent that it encroches on peoples lifestyle, I used to breed australian native parrots as well as aussie finches, so I am very keen on birds in general

Basil Faulty · Guru

I think these pests flourish because young boys no longer are allowed bee bee guns to discourage starlings, mynahs and crows....They use to be excellent targets when I was a kid.. Remember Chips Rafferty in "Smiley gets a gun"???
I'm keen on feathered birds, they certainly pose a challenge to photograph.... In my back yard which is largely unkempt and a bit of a wildlife reserve we discovered that a Bower Bird had build a bower in a dense bit of shubbery... he had collected hundreds of blue milk bottle lids and placed them around, I thought the wind had blown them there...

dave06 · Guru

you lucky bugger, a bower bird in your backyard. and I must confess to disposing of quite a few birdies with the old slug gun, oh and shooting mums chooks up the coit when they got in the way and the pegs on the clothes line, shot a mate up the freckle too when he wanted to go home early and i didnt want him to, his nickname, by the way, was willywog ryan, I remember saying to him "if you go home now, you can take this with you" and let him have it, fair up the kyber. no wonder they took them off us, thinking back now I was a mongrel kid.

Cupie · Guru

Gee .. talking about shooting pegs takes me back to when I got my son a air rifle & he practiced endlessly shooting match sticks .. allbeit from rather short range. A year or so later when he was 12yo I took him shooting rabbits in the Texas Inglewood area. Early in the bit he said .. 'Dad see that rabbit just over that log (maybe 50m away)'? Of course I couldn't see it .. so I said 'if it's there then shoot it'! expecting no result ... sure enough bang!! & the bunny did the classic back flip!!!!
Next year just downstream from the Burdekin Dam wall, when after wild pigs he did it again. We got a glimpse of a pig thru the lignum. Before I could chamber a round in the .223 he went 'Bang .. got it'! Bull****! was the call. A short search later we found an about 2yo boar dead as a maggot with no discernable wound .. from the .22. Still got the tusks & photos of a 13yo looking pleased as punch with his first pig. (won't bore you with the tales of the Dingo & yes.. the saltie (not Johnstone river freshies) 200km up from the river mouth).

The air rifle is still good on the mynahs.

cheers .. G